Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Stephen Harper, Rob Ford, and the Con Apocalypse

Oh boy. I have to admit that when you're a blogger and a progressive in Harperland, some days are better than others.And at first glance today really sucked eh?For starters as I walked home this evening I was finally forced to admit what I have being denying for so long: Winter is almost upon us...

Most of the tourist boats are gone, it's getting really cold and dark out there, the first harbingers of the Snowy Apocalypse are racing across the sky. And to make things even bleaker, I couldn't get two horrible images out of my mind.The image of Stephen Harper thinking that he had finally buried the Senate scandal under the weight of his massive modest surplus.

The Conservative government will squeeze public-service salaries and sell off government assets to enter the next federal election with a budget surplus of at least $3.7-billion, paving the way for promised big-ticket tax cuts.Which the Con Ministry of Propaganda and Disinformation was trumpeting like only it can. Or Goebbels could.And the image of Rob Ford flogging Robbie Bobbie bobbleheads.

The early runner for the hottest toy of the Christmas season — at least for Toronto holiday shoppers — could be the Rob Ford bobblehead doll."It speaks volumes by the amount of people that are downstairs (lining up)," Doug Ford said. "I don't think there's a politician in the country, including the prime minister, that could have bobblehead dolls and have them line up around the corner."Because if those aren't signs of the Con Apocalypse what are eh?And judging from the text messages I received this evening, or the comments in the papers, if I had stuck my head out of the window I probably would have seen progressives standing on their balconies shouting:" Ford is STILL popular !#@!!! Harper is BUYING the next election !!!!! Or just screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOO !@#!!!When in fact nothing that happened today is going to change ANYTHING. Rob Ford is not popular, he's a dead man walking. And the reason most people were buying those Robbie Bobbies was because they want to keep a copy of his shrunken head to show off at parties.Like people once collected this woody thing...

Which I understand when used for the same purpose works even better eh?And as for Stephen Harper, he shouldn't be perched and rotating too comfortably on his throne either. Because even if he does get a real surplus, which with Jimbo Flaherty cooking the books can't be guaranteed.Liberal finance critic Scott Brison noted that $1.5-billion of the government’s estimated $3.7-billion surplus depends on asset sales that have not taken place.
“It’s a little bit like selling the furniture to pay for the groceries,” he said.For obvious reasons...

Not when the opposition can always shrug their shoulders and say this:You inherited a $13 billion dollar surplus and after TEN years in power turned it into a $3 billion dollar surplus? Big deal. What are you bragging about? You should be fired or ARRESTED.Secondly, if there is a surplus, the opposition can either match or come up with better ways to spend it, without being accused by the Cons of being financially irresponsible.Thirdly, with the country running a surplus, the economy will be LESS not more of an issue. And the Cons will have undermined the only thing they still have going for them.Which is why John Ivison was suggesting yesterday that the Harperites might not want to slay the deficit too soon.A key plank of the Conservative pitch for the past seven years has been that Liberals and the NDP couldn’t run a lemonade stand. But if the budget is balanced in 2014 — 18 months ahead of the election — a good times narrative threatens to undermine the warning to voters that the others aren’t worth the risk.
When voters feel they can afford to gamble, they tend to do just that.
And the only reason they're bragging about it now is because they're desperate to change the channel on the Senate scandal. Which isn't going away. Because there are just too many questions Stephen Harper hasn't answered.The PM, who precious months ago insisted that there was no paper trail in this sordid game of political chicken, is now handing over his office’s non-existent documents to the RCMP. Where did they come from – the e-mail fairy?His story rings FALSE...

Think about Harper’s “narratives”. First, it was full support for Wright and no resignation; that morphed into accepting his resignation with regret; next it was Wright did not resign but was sacked; and finally it was righteous indignation and a sense of betrayal that drove the PM to fire his rogue chief-of-staff.
So now we’re to believe that Wright was fired because he didn’t tell the PM about the Duffy deal?Yet it took him until May 19 to dump the guy – and even then he does it “with great regret.” Flick this story with a fingernail and you will get no ring – it is glass, not crystal.And if charges are laid, which seems almost certain, Great Scandalous Leader may find himself having to answer those questions and others under OATH. In a criminal court. In the months, weeks, or days leading up to the next election.Which considering how many Canadians mistrust and despise him and his Con regime already, should just about finish him off. And just at the Wright time.So you see, things aren't really as bad as they seem. And BTW neither is the impending Snowy Apocalypse eh?Because I forgot that this also the time in The Great White North.When the Mighty Zamboni rides AGAIN !!!!

Yup. Look at it people that's CANADA !!!!!!And what better symbol of our growing resistance to the Harper regime?So try not to freeze to death eh? But cheer-up and enjoy the show.The Canadian people are on the move. I'm getting ready to FLY. Woohoo !!!And those Con monkeys are STILL going down...

hi salamander...yes it's sometimes hard to see through the smokescreens and the chaos. But the Cons have planted enough mines in their sodden field, sooner or later one of them will explode. And hopefully they'll keep exploding all the way to the next election. The scandals may pale in comparison to their other more serious crimes, like their quasi-fascist assault on our democracy or the torching of the planet, but they will taint everything they do from now on. I would prefer to see them crushed by the voters, but if the police insist on dealing with them first, who am I to complain... ;)

fatterty's "surpluses" have a magickal way of turning into serious deficits under close scrutiny. It's happened before and it'll happen again. Only the rubes and right wingnuts get taken in by his shell game.I am less optimistic than you about the rcmp pressing charges against stevie slime and his criminal cabal. Again, they don't bite the hand that feeds them and the rcmp boys have never been so ubermilitarized and over-the-top in their responses to unarmed citizenry as they are now thanks to their new carte blanche weaponry and "license to kill" from the p.m.o. so why would they want to lessen their newfound godlike powers by bringing harpie down, hmmmm?

hi anon...yes Jimbo has a way of turning surpluses into deficits, and the PBO is investigating how he missed his budget prediction so massively and so conveniently. And nobody knows how their savage cuts are affecting services so anything could happen. As for the RCMP, I don't blame you for being sceptical. But remember there are decent officers in the force who don't like seeing their bosses act like stooges, and from what I've read so far the investigation seems to be heading down the right track. The force must surely know that if the fail Canadians, they will be discredited along with the Con regime...

hi anon...thank you, I'm glad you liked it. I figure SOMEBODY has to cheer up progressives, and remind that we're winning. ;)And yes, isn't the Wright Affair an interesting story, with more twist and turns than an Agatha Christie novel. I can't help feeling the Cons are making it up as they go along, and sooner of later they'll bring themselves down. And those good times will be OURS. They'd better be eh? I've got plans to party for at least a week... ;)

Harper and his henchmen really could have a surplus. Harper is selling huge chunks of Canada to Communist China. I'm sure everyone knows, the BC Liberals work for Harper? Harper's FIPA deal with China means, Communist China wants the timber and the mines on Vancouver Island. Chrisy Clark and Rich Coleman, are giving BC's public assets, to BC Liberals friends. This theft is on Vancouver Island. The BC Liberals have thieved huge tracts of Land on Vancouver Island.Guess who will get the timber? There are 18 mine permits on the Vancouver Island as well. Hmmmmm Wonder who gets those mines? Seems Communist China also bought up 800 hectares in Prince Rupert.

Here is an excellent article on these thefts and salesNov 11/2013powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca

If people remember when? Ex BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell thieved and corruptly sold our BCR? Seems, the priceless property that went with the BCR, vanished. too. Gordon Campbell is Harper's favorite henchman. Harper rewarded Campbell the post of, High Commissioner to the U.K. Campbell did a lot of dirty work for Harper. And, that is only the tip of the iceberg, of what Harper and his evil is doing to Canada.

hi anon...as you know I don't trust the Cons as far as I can spit. So I haven't the slightest doubt that they are cooking the books. But what I fear the most is that if the revenue projections fall short, as many are predicting they will, the Cons will start killing jobs and cutting services even more brutally than they already are, which will make the effects of their deranged austerity policies even more damaging.Nobody will be safe until they are gone...

hi Steve....I was a late comer to the Sopranos because I don't watch much TV. But one I started watching it I was totally hooked. It was so well written, James Gandolfini was so good. And at least unlike the Harper mob, they had some Code of Honour... ;)

Federally, Jim is hiding expenses in other budgets and taking money from other budgets to "balance the books", They have borrowed from the Military and other Capital budgets and put the money into "General Income". The election "goodies" are too tempting to not "cook the books" to make Jim look good. Beware of the old adage - "Figures never lie but Liars sure figure".

hi anon...I completely agree with you, there has to be some reason they are hiding the figures so we don't even know, and neither does the PBO, what is the real impact of last year's budget. It's a Kafkaesque situation, and when the Cons are finally evicted the first thing we should do is demand a total forensic audit...

Actually the majority of land, on Vancouver Island, which is rural, is owned by Timber West, not the provincial government. Timber West is able to sell it to whomever they wish. The 18 mine "permits" are actually applications. They were filed during the provincial election, when people weren't noticing too much.

Historically the christie clark and crew are affiliated with the federal Liberals, not the federal Conservatives. However, the both do not so lovely work.

This is stevie slime's good week. His buddy Ford is taking all the press. Next week however, the cons will have to be back in Ottawa answering questions put to them by the NDP and Liberals regarding the on going scandal. However, if the RCMP don't investigate a little quicker we could all be old and gone before its over. Of course, Duffy, looking ever so cute in your pic, on thin ice, may decide to give himself an early Christmas present and publish a book. it would get him out of the Ottawa cold.

If what Mr. Flaherty is saying about slaying the deficit is correct, I would suggest that the people of Ontario should engage a competent firm to determine the accuracy of transfers to the province from the Federal Government under the retail sales tax “harmonization” project. It is likely the case that the province no longer has the capability of determining without outside assistance whether it is receiving its legal share of these revenues, given that reports are now filed with the Federal Government and reviewed by their auditors, some of whom may be former employees of the Ontario Ministry of Revenue now working for the CRA.

We should ask the governments of Quebec and Alberta if they have any advice for Ontario on this matter.